The midterm elections in the United States are just around the corner: On Tuesday, November 3, American voters will choose their representatives to the US Congress.
asserted
voters → choose → Congress
The right-wing-conservative Republican party of President Donald Trump currently has a majority in both chambers.
asserted
party → have → chambers
The majority of voters in both Serbia and Brazil cast their ballots for left-wing parties.
asserted
majority → cast → parties
Those results will not influence the midterms in the US, but the victories of the Student List in Serbia and the incumbent president, Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva, in Brazil are bad news for Trump all the same.
asserted
victories → influence → Trump
In Serbia, he has lost an important European ally in outgoing president Aleksandar Vucic.
asserted
he → lose → Vucic
And in Brazil, the Trump camp had been hoping Flavio Bolsonaro would triumph.
asserted
Bolsonaro → hop → Brazil
"Trump was a strong supporter of both Jair Bolsonaro, the Trump-like figure who served as president before Lula defeated him in 2022, and of his son Flavio," says Lawrence J. Haas, a senior fellow for US foreign policy at the American Foreign Policy Council, who was communications director for Al Gore, Bill Clinton's vice president, in the 1990s.
asserted
who → serve → 1990s
"Trump wasn't happy about the defeat of either Bolsonaro," he continues, "and he doesn't feel warmly toward Lula.
asserted
he → continue → Lula
So relations will remain cool at best."
asserted
relations → remain → ?
Trump declared Brazilian election looked "rigged"
asserted
election → declare → ?
After losing the election, he fled the country for Florida.
asserted
he → lose → Florida
The US State Department granted him and his family entry visas in spite of the pending legal action.
asserted
Department → grant → action
Bolsonaro has refused to concede defeat.
asserted
Bolsonaro → refuse → defeat
Instead, he claims there were irregularities in the vote.
uncertain
he → claim → vote
This is very reminiscent of Trump, who continues to claim – falsely – that Joe Biden and the Democratic Party "stole" the US election in 2020.
uncertain
Biden → continue → 2020
Trump's comments on Bolsonaro's defeat sounded very familiar.
asserted
comments → sound → defeat
"It looked like another rigged election, frankly," the US president said on Monday.
asserted
president → look → Monday
"Elections have to be indisputable – and it looked very bad to me."
asserted
it → have → me
Good relations with Putin ally Vucic
Aleksandar Vucic had ruled Serbia as president with an iron fist since 2017.
asserted
relations → rule → 2017
He resigned just before these elections in order to stand as prime minister, a role he previously held from 2014 to 2017.
asserted
he → resign → 2017
Vucic has commented in the past that he and President Trump are like-minded people.
asserted
he → comment → past
Trump's eldest son, Donald Jr., visited Vucic in Belgrade shortly before the US presidential elections in November 2024, and again a few months later.
asserted
son → visit → November
The US Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which is closely connected with Trump's MAGA ("Make America Great Again") movement, recently announced that it was organizing a meeting in Belgrade in November, at which Vucic was to be a keynote speaker.
asserted
Vucic → connect → which
Another thing Vucic and Trump have in common is that the soon-to-be-ex-president of Serbia has a much more positive attitude toward Russian president Vladimir Putin than do most other European heads of state.
asserted
heads → have → state
Vucic did not join EU countries in imposing sanctions on Russia after it launched its war of aggression against Ukraine.
asserted
it → join → Ukraine
Belgrade still buys Russian raw materials, and Serbian state media under Vucic presented a more positive image of Russia than of the EU.
asserted
media → buy → EU
Trump also seems increasingly inclined toward Moscow.
asserted
Trump → seem → Moscow
His special envoy Steve Witkoff recently described Putin as a "humanitarian," while, in an interview, Trump himself openly admitted that he got on better with Putin than with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
asserted
he → describe → president
The end of the Vucic government now means that Trump has lost one of his few allies in Europe who takes a similar view.
asserted
who → mean → view
Israel: Outcome still unclear
There's still a chance of an outcome in the Israeli elections that might be to Trump's liking.
uncertain
that → be → liking
With more than 96% of votes counted, the right-wing bloc led by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the lead.
asserted
bloc → count → lead
However, Trump ally Netanyahu has lost his majority, and the coalition negotiations will be very difficult.
asserted
negotiations → lose → majority
Trump and Netanyahu have been close allies since well before February this year, when they joined forces to launch a war against Iran.
asserted
they → join → Iran
In 2018, during his first term in office, Trump moved the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
asserted
Trump → move → Jerusalem
This was controversial, because both Israel and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital.
uncertain
Israel → claim → capital
Netanyahu's camp welcomed the decision.
asserted
camp → welcome → decision
If Netanyahu remains in power, little, if anything, will change.
asserted
little → remain → power
With Vucic's defeat, Trump has lost a loyal ally.
asserted
Trump → lose → ally
And Lula's victory means, for him, that a disagreeable president remains in power.
asserted
president → mean → power
None of this is good for Trump, but foreign policy analyst Haas said it won't influence the important midterm elections in his country.
asserted
it → say → country
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
